


It Could Be Good

by lunarLarceny



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Asperger Syndrome, Borderline Personality Disorder, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Max has Asperger's, Post-Canon, Road Trip, Trauma Recovery, chloe has bpd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-22 09:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6074170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarLarceny/pseuds/lunarLarceny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the storm is over, Max & Chloe must confront truths that they would rather not think about, the least of which being their feelings for each other. Getting back to normal isn't easy when you've indirectly destroyed an entire town for your best friend in the world, and it's sure as hell hard to deny that you're completely in love with her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Calm

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first piece of writing, so if it isn't that great I'm very sorry. I definitely did not think I would be writing pricefield fanfiction at 5:30am when I woke up this morning, I'll just say that. I'd also like to say that this piece is based pretty heavily on my relationship with my friend James, who has BPD and is on the autism spectrum like me. We aren't involved romantically, but I thought it was a good basis for Max and Chloe's relationship. If he ever finds this, I'm pressing the self destruct button on the back of my head.

It had always been easy to be with Chloe. You didn't have to try so hard around her. You didn't have to put in so much effort to be well liked. The way Chloe looked at you, as if you were the world. The way she held your hand and squeezed it every now and then to keep you in the moment. It was easy for you to lose focus, and Chloe knew that. You could just be real with each other. Genuine. It had always brought you a sense of security and peace.

Even now, as you drive away from the wreckage of Arcadia Bay, not knowing where you stand with Chloe. You had almost kissed her then. You didn't think the timing was right, since your hometown was literally being destroyed in front of you. Your mind is completely wrapped up in thoughts of destruction, freak weather, and kissing your best friend when Chloe lightly squeezes your hand, reminding you that reality is waiting for you.

You take a deep breath and blink into the sunlight, focusing your eyes. "What time-" You stop, hearing how hoarse you sound. You clear your throat to try again. "What time is it?"

"No idea. My phone's fucked." Chloe says, just a little too loud, looking at you instead of the road. You cringe a little at that, and Chloe's expression changes. "Sorry, that was a bit loud. I didn't expect that." She looks ahead again, squeezing the steering wheel with the hand that isn't tangled with yours.

"It's okay. I'm just tired I guess", you almost whisper.

"I think I know what you mean.", Chloe says more quietly, trying to laugh a little, but it doesn't sound genuine.

"Are we anywhere yet?", you inquire, looking out the window for any sign of where you are.

"I don't know. I've never gone this far outside Arcadia. I would always just turn back around once I realized I had nowhere to go.", Chloe reveals unexpectedly. You feel much worse than you did a second ago and decide to stop asking questions. It doesn't appear that Chloe is prepared to stop talking though, since she speaks up again.

"Do you happen to have any ideas?", she questions vaguely. "We don't have much gas left." You don't know what she means.

"Ideas for what?", you say with a groan.

"You know, like where to hang up our coats. Where can we stay, besides a motel? We're still going to have to stay in one, but I'm thinking more long term." Chloe elaborates. You think for a few too many uncomfortable seconds before you reply.

"I guess we could stay with my parents, but to be honest, I really don't want to.", you answer, surprised at your own honesty. Chloe doesn't say anything for a second.

"We don't have to go there if you don't want to, Max.", Chloe looks concerned, and for a second, you wonder if she knows exactly why you don't want to see your parents. You don't want to face them and tell them that you survived, because you would never be able to tell them everything you really went through. The honesty you shared with your parents would be gone.

"But I think you should at least let them know that you're okay and that you're alive. They're probably worried sick about you.", Chloe finishes. When did Chloe become so selfless and forward-thinking? It feels like she's matured five years in twelve hours.

You struggle to remove your phone from your soggy pants pocket. Wet skinny jeans are exceedingly hard to work with. When you finally have it in hand, you aren't surprised that the phone is pretty wet as well. You try the power button and thankfully, it turns on without a problem. You would dry it off on your clothes, but it would probably be just as wet as before. You don't have a signal, but you keep staring anyway. Your phone tells you it's currently around ten o'clock in the morning, and you unlock it for no particular reason. "No calls or texts on my phone", you say, breaking the silence. "but it's not like I have service anyway."

Chloe grunts an acknowledgement and you snooze your phone. A comfortable silence falls, and you let your head press against the window, watching the grass on the side of the road fly past for what feels like forever. The silence is broken again after an unknown but large quantity of time when Chloe pipes up again.

"Hey, I think I see a gas station ahead. We should stop there and get some food and gas.", Chloe states.

"Do we even have any money?", you inquire skeptically. "I don't have any at all."

Chloe hums a little before she speaks. "Umm...I may have not paid Frank quite as much as I was supposed to. And by 'quite as much', I mean, I took about a thousand off the top. I only gave him two grand. I was praying he wouldn't notice, and I guess it paid off.", She admits. You groan, but are ultimately grateful. You try not to think about whether Frank is alive or dead, but you do anyway, and your heart sinks to your stomach.

Chloe pulls up to the pump and gets out to fill up the tank. You don't appreciate the silence after you hear Chloe's door slam shut and the clunk of the pump being hooked up to the truck. You unlock your phone again to observe the charge percentage. Sixty-three percent battery. You decide to tinker with the phone settings until you're satisfied that it'll hold charge long enough to buy another charger somewhere. You hear a knock on the window and you jump at the sudden break in silence. When you look, Chloe is gazing at you from outside the truck with a soft smile. Your heart races a little bit at how much you love it. She motions for you to exit the truck so you can find some food in the convenience store. You do just that.

When you get out of the cab you just stand there, stretching for a minute. When you're standing up straight again you take a long deep breath. Your lungs fill up with the crisp morning air, and it's clear you're taking your time and enjoying not being stuffed up in Chloe's truck any longer. Chloe is patient and waits for you without any complaint. When you're finally satisfied, Chloe takes your hand again and you both walk into the convenience store.

Your mind is racing a bit when you enter. You're not sure why Chloe is holding your hand still. It's not like you don't love it, but the cashier might get the wrong idea or something. Or maybe the right one? You're incredibly confused and you try to dispel any further thoughts about this to focus on finding something to eat.

You feel bleary more than anything as you walk through the store. Chloe gently pulls you along and points to things that you might be interested in having to sate your aching stomach. You feel like you just woke up or something, and you keep shaking your head at everything Chloe points to. You can tell she's getting frustrated, but she's trying not to show it. She doesn't want to overreact about something so stupid. She's exhausted most of her patience by the time you walk through the whole store and she turns to you and drops your hand. You ache a little when she lets go.

"Why don't you find something yourself? I'm sure there's something here you can make yourself eat. You can't just go without like this.", Chloe says softly so that no one else can hear. You really don't want to eat, even though your stomach hurts, but you nod without saying anything and wander off anyway. Even if it's just to satisfy Chloe, you'll find something and get it over with. A few aisles over you see a small bag of Fritos and grab it absentmindedly. You hope she's okay with what you picked. It's not exactly nutritious or filling, but it's going to have to do. You don't think that anything of substance will stay down.

When you join her again at the front counter, she's got an armful of everything. You're a little impressed with how quickly she did that. Maybe she took note of where everything she wanted was when she escorted you through the store.

"Shit. Max, can you go grab me a couple bottles of Coke and a couple of whatever you want to drink?", Chloe requests. "I'm going to start paying for all this." You silently nod again, handing her your bag of Fritos. That makes her smile a bit. She's happy that you found something, even if she had already pointed to the same bag earlier. She has a sneaky suspicion that you only grabbed it to make her happy, and she would be right, but she's pleased nonetheless.

You grab two Cokes from the fridge at the back, as well as two NesTeas. You think you might be addicted to it, because that's all you drink anymore. When you return to the register, the cashier has rung up 12 out of 15 items, and you make it 19. You can hear the poor guy sigh when you set them down. Chloe has gone a bit overboard on the food. You guess she's hungry.

Chloe grabs your hand again, tangling her fingers with yours and squeezing a little. She looks you in the eyes for awhile, and usually eye contact makes you uncomfortable, but right now it's nice. You don't want to look away because you notice how blue her eyes are and you make a point to study every little bit of them. When it gets to be too much, you look away again. You're about to mentally scorn yourself for being so stupid like that, but the cashier announces the total for the gas, drinks, and food, distracting both of you. It's about $130 and you look at Chloe like she's crazy. She looks back at you and shrugs.

"What can I say? I'm fuckin' hungry." You both laugh a little and you bump your shoulder against hers, realizing now how close you were to her a second ago. You don't remember moving towards her, but you probably did it unconsciously. You have a bit of a problem with giving people their personal space, but Chloe doesn't seem to mind. She squeezes your hand again.

When the cashier is finally finished bagging up all of the food and drinks, you walk out of the convenience store together and she's holding every bag in her right hand. How ridiculous, you think. She won't even ask you to carry any. Talk about stubborn.

She lets go of your hand for a minute to open the truck door and stuffs all of the bags into the cab. Of course, they all fall off the seat and down to the bottom. "Whatever.", Chloe says, rolling her eyes dramatically, clearly trying to cheer you up. You give her a little smile before you get into the truck with her. When she starts the truck, you realize how loud the engine actually is after so much silence and get a bit startled. Chloe notices this and holds your hand again, giving a little squeeze.

"Let's keep going. We should find a motel and get some sleep.", Chloe suggests. Sleep sounds nice, except that it's eleven o'clock in the morning, according to your soggy phone. At the same time, you haven't slept in more than 30 hours, so who cares, really? You give Chloe a nod, and she gently steps on the gas, pulling onto the freeway again. Your eyes feel heavy, but you decide to stay awake because it's not like Chloe's gotten a chance to sleep either.

You look at Chloe focused on the road, and she darts her eyes to the side at you. "What is it, Maximus?", Chloe asks gently.

"Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all.", you reply. It might be awhile until you find a motel on this stretch of road. You smile sleepily at Chloe and she side eyes you again, a gleaming smile on her beautiful face. You can't help but think about kissing her again. You're so fucked, Max Caulfield.

 

 


	2. Not April Fool's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay????????????????? Dude it's gay. I am a sin man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I really wanted to see how it would be received before I did any further work on it. I've already got the next chapter planned, so hopefully this goes well. If anyone was wondering, I do in fact have Borderline Personality Disorder and high functioning autism (Asperger's, specifically), so I really enjoy these headcanons. I decided that only reading about two fics with at least one of my Chloe/Max headcanons was lame, so I wrote my own. Hope you guys like this chapter.

When you awaken, the sun is a little bit higher in the sky. Your ears ache in the silence, and you realize that the truck's engine has been turned off. You hum a little bit, processing your surroundings. You're in a parking lot somewhere and you take a second to blink until your eyes focus before speaking.

"Chloe? Did I fall asleep?", you hear yourself groan. Your voice sounds gross.

"Just for awhile, don't worry about it. We're at a motel. You should get out so we can check in.", Chloe says quietly. She's still holding your hand, and the thought of her continuing to hold your hand while you sleep makes you all warm and fuzzy inside.

You look at Chloe, and she's already got her eyes fixed on you, which takes you by surprise just a little bit. It kills you that she doesn't know how beautiful she is.

"Do you want to go inside?", she asks you gently.

"Yeah.", you answer confidently. You could definitely lie down and relax with your best friend right now. You've been in that truck for a long time. With that thought, you realize that you have no idea what time it is, but you have little concern for that at this moment.

Chloe opens her door and lets go of your hand for a moment. She closes her door as quietly as she can manage while still properly locking it and zips behind the truck to open your door for you. How oddly chivalrous of her.

Before you're even out of the car, she's already grabbed your hand, and that feeling you had a moment ago comes back again. It can only be explained as adoration at this point, you suppose.

She lets you adjust yourself before you start moving, and everything seems a lot brighter than it was a second ago. Fresh air is all you can concentrate on.

"How long were we parked before I woke up?", you inquire, a little bleary.

"I don't know, like ten minutes or so? Not sure, really.", she says calmly. She doesn't appear to be irritated or anything, but you might be wrong.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep. I didn't mean to.", you tell her, looking at her with some remorse. You feel bad because she hasn't slept and it doesn't seem fair that you got to sleep and she didn't. You really hope she isn't mad about it, either.

She looks at you with pity, and she shakes her head. "Max, it's okay. Sleep all you want. Honestly, you deserve it with everything we've been through." She pauses for a second. "Do you want to go check in now?"

You nod quickly and she squeezes your hand a little. Chloe closes your door for you and you both walk, hand in hand, towards the office. When you get there, you decide to let Chloe do the talking and instead choose to study the office booth.

It's got a little glass window that looks pretty old and dirty, almost completely sealing in the office, with the exception of a small opening in the bottom, presumably for sliding in cash. There's a small metal grate of some sort right in the middle, which you believe is so that you and the office attendant can talk to each other comfortably. You pay attention to the peeling paint around the sides, and how Chloe's face moves when she talks. Your ears tune in when the attendant asks her if you want one bed or two and she requests the latter, somewhat to your surprise.

"Unless you object?", Chloe says to you, turning her head to listen to your response.

"What?"

"One bed or two?", she repeats.

"One, please.", you tell her, definitively. You hope she's okay with that. You really don't want to sleep alone.

"One bed, sorry.", she repeats to the attendant for you. She's smiling a little bit, and you think she might be trying to hide it from you. Suspicious. She slips some cash to the attendant, and in return he slides a key through the opening at the bottom of the window.

"Here you are, room 2B, all right?", he says with a little concern in his voice for whatever reason. It strikes you as odd.

"Thank you.", Chloe replies, taking the key and handing it to you as something to fidget with for the time being. You appreciate that immensely.

You both start to walk away when the attendant calls to you and you stumble back to the booth again.

"I don't suppose you two are coming from Arcadia, are you? I've heard of a gigantic tornado on the news, and you kind of look the part. No offense, of course.", he stutters a little. You think he might be nervous, but trying to figure out what people are thinking is making you more tired than you already are.

"Yeah, we are. Why do you ask?", Chloe sighs tiredly. You can tell she doesn't want to have this conversation, but she's trying to be polite.

The attendant shakes his head and opens up a little. "Some of my family lives there. I hope they're okay." You feel awful. Like really, _really_ , awful.

"I do too. Good luck, man." Chloe seems sad again, and you want to die so badly right now. Before you can get up the guts to say anything, you're at the door, and she's gesturing for the key. You don't really want to give it back, even though you're pretty sure she'll return it to you. Instead of giving her the key, you unlock the door yourself. She chuckles a little and squeezes your hand again and you feel a bit better.

 When she opens the door you can tell it's not paradise or anything, but it's not that bad. Your expectations were pretty low to begin with, so this is definitely a step up. The first thing you notice is that it's very dark. When you step inside, you hold Chloe's hand a little tighter and she looks at you with a bit of concern.

"Are you okay?", she asks gently.

"Yeah, I want to go to bed can we go to sleep now?", you say quickly.

"Woah, there. Slow down for a second, Maximus!", she exclaims, closing the door behind you. "Don't you want to check out the room first, maybe take a shower or something?"

"You can take a shower if you want. I'm just really tired and I thought you would want to go to sleep too. Am I wrong?", you ask softly, confused and a bit frustrated with yourself for talking to Chloe with such attitude. She's going to lash out for sure. You prepare yourself unconsciously by squinting a bit and stepping back, anticipating a lot of sound coming from her.

"Okay, Maxie. Let's go to sleep then.", she says, giving you a small smile. She leans in and kisses your cheek, perhaps testing your limits for physical contact and your willingness to be close to her. You are very surprised. You thought she would be wound up after this, ready to fight with you about everything. She is not, and that confuses you, since that is the new Chloe you've come to know.

She must have kissed you because she wanted you to be at ease. She probably noticed that you were "bracing for impact", so to speak. You try not to think about it further, so you drop your bag by the door and make your way towards the queen mattress laid out before you both.

"Do you want me to sleep on the floor?" she asks you, nonsensically.

 "If I wanted you to sleep somewhere else, I would have asked for a room with two beds, Chloe.", you confidently tell her. You feel a little daring for saying that for whatever reason.

Chloe grunts an acknowledgement and gets into the left side of the bed, opposite from you. You realize that it's dark in the room, since neither of you turned on any lights or opened the curtains, but you don't give it any more thought. You _are_ about to go to sleep, after all.

You slip into bed with Chloe, kicking off your shoes and setting the room key down on your night stand, but when you lay down, you realize how unsatisfying it is. You are still cold and damp.

"Chloe?", you whisper into the darkness.

"What?", she responds, just as quiet, even though there isn't anyone else in the room to be quiet for.

"My clothes are wet and cold.", you say, matter-of-factly.

"So are mine.", she replies in the same tone.

"I can't sleep with these on."

"Neither can I."

"Should we take them off?", you suggest.

"Only if you're okay with that. I can keep mine on if you want. That might make you more comfortable.", she offers, a bit too selflessly. She could catch a cold or something if she doesn't take them off. Additionally, she would make the bed soggy.

"No, you can take yours off too. You'll get sick." You hope that she takes your words for face value. The last thing you need is a suspected ulterior motive making her keep her clothes on and potentially coming down with pneumonia or something avoidable like that. Not that you would mind seeing her without clothes on or anything. Oh boy, you should take it down a notch. That got weird quick. It's not like you haven't seen it all before.

"Max? Did you fall asleep?", you suddenly hear Chloe whisper a bit louder.

"No, I didn't. Take off your clothes before you get sick.", you order, kind of by accident.

"Okay then. If you insist.", she replies lightheartedly. Thank god. For a second you thought you might have said that too harshly. You both slip out of bed and she quickly starts stripping to her underwear, clearly eager to get her damp clothes off. You can barely make out her struggling to get her skinny jeans off in the darkness, and that thought makes you laugh out loud, until you realize you're going to have to do the same thing in a second.

"Oh, ha ha.", she says, right before hitting her elbow on the wall next to her and groaning. You laugh again, because she's obviously having a hell of a time trying to get them off. Feeling merciful, you walk over and stop her from hurting herself again. When you turn on the lamp atop the night stand, you can see Chloe's eyebrows furrowed in irritation, with her pants only down to her lower thighs. Her pride is so damaged, it's hilarious. You suddenly have an idea.

"Go sit on the bed.", you say, holding in a laugh.

"Why?", she inquires without trust in her tone.

"Just do it. I'm feeling merciful.", you chide. She seems to trust you a bit more, and obeys, waddling over to the foot of the bed and letting herself fall onto the edge. She doesn't take her eyes off of you.

"Stick your legs out."

"Um. What?"

"Do you want my help or not?", you ask her, knowing the answer already. Chloe groans and sticks her legs out, putting her hands behind her to support her weight. She stares at her feet instead of at you.

You take a couple steps until you're in front of her and grab the waist of her jeans. When you're sure you have a tight grip on them, you slide them straight down her legs, turning them inside out. You toss them on the floor, and she bolts up from the bed, newly free from her denim prison.

"Oh my god, you're a genius, thank you!" She does a little dance and you laugh at her. She comes over and looks at you.

"Come on Maximus I'll do the same for you!", she offers.

"Uhh, okay." You unbutton your pants and slide them partway down your thighs. When you sit down, you realize your underwear is damp as well, but you'll live until tomorrow. Chloe slides your pants off almost as easily is you did and throws them onto her own inside out jeans.

You take a moment to appreciate the ease with which your legs can move now, and gather both pairs of pants. When you're finished taking everything out of all of the pockets, you hang them up to dry in the bathroom over the shower curtain rod. Hopefully they'll be dry in the morning.

Chloe has already taken her tank top off by the time you enter the room again, and you catch her just in time to see her slipping back into the bed, getting warm under the covers. You can barely see her face, and she's watching you like a playful cat. You are suddenly very jealous of her warmth, so you quickly drop your phones and wallets on the ground. You slip off your shirt and toss it to the floor next to the small pile of stuff you've just made, not bothering to hang it up to dry.

She giggles at how quickly you get into bed and curl up into a ball for warmth. You both lay on your side, peeking out over the blankets at each other. She's still watching you like that, and it makes you laugh too. You feel like you're both kids again.

"We have to get a cat.", you state out of the blue.

"Where did _that_ come from?", Chloe laughs.

"Well, I came out and you were looking at me. It reminded me of a cat under the covers, and they're really cute when they're playing with something. Then I really wanted to pet a cat, plus I think you would love having a cat, and so I've decided we need to get a cat.", you ramble proudly. Chloe is a little speechless, but she's looking at you with amusement.

"Then we will get a cat, Super Max. Whatever you want." Chloe is looking you right in the eyes, and it isn't making you uncomfortable. You stare back at her for a second before you suddenly wrap your arms around her neck and kiss her. When you let go, she's looking at you in shock, and she isn't saying anything. You are so stupid, why would you do that? Being so impulsive ruins everything, now she won't-

Your thought process is completely cut off when she kisses you back hard. You feel your muscles tense and your eyes go wide, but as soon as you process what this means, you relax and kiss her back. When she breaks away, she's blushing hard and grinning ear-to-ear. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

"I love you, Chloe Price. I have loved you since we were kids, and the wind blew my eye patch into a tree and you tried to get it by climbing onto the roof of your house, but you fell down and broke your arm, and you laughed while you cried. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you for five years, I never returned your calls or your letters because I was afraid I would never see you again and I didn't want our friendship to slowly fade away, and I'm sorry I hurt you but I thought it would be better that way."

When you open your eyes again, Chloe's expression has changed. You don't know what it means until she suddenly engulfs you in a tremendously tight hug.

"I love you too, Max. I forgive you, okay?", she whispers in your ear. Her breath is hot on your skin. You nod silently and close your eyes again, feeling her warmth burn your exposed skin. You both stay like that until you fall asleep, and you feel warm and fuzzy inside again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this chapter, please leave a comment and a kudos it would mean a lot to me!! Thank you guys for all the nice comments on the last chapter, I really appreciate it. They were probably the only reason I actually wrote more of this haha. Peace out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you liked it, because I'm not sure I will continue it unless people actually like it. Peace out.


End file.
